Q. Have you softened the show because it might feel callous to criticize a man who has serious health problems?

A. The idea that [Mr. Jobs] could pass away is a tremendous distraction from the really essential story. To be truthful, it’s difficult to know that we are so hungry to be distracted from the unfortunate and uncomfortable situation we’ve created for ourselves with China, with our labor, with all of our manufacturing, that we will grasp at whatever it takes to not talk about it.

Q. Did conditions in these factories surprise you?

A. I’d expected conditions to be bad, to be worse than I’d ever experienced, and I’ve lived a relatively comfortable life. What was shocking to me was the level of dehumanization built into the systems that have been put into place by American corporations in collusion with suppliers.

IPE said it held talks twice with Apple, the second time with the company’s supply chain management. While Apple did not specifically address all of the concerns the environmental groups made, the company said it would continue to communicate and collaborate with them, according to Wang Jing Jing, vice director for IPE.

“In the future, we will listen to what they have to say and we will see how they will move forward,” Wang said. “Our goal is that they will really work to improve the supply chain management.”